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15
“Wow,” Star said. “Now I know where you got your cheesy shifter love fest from.”
“I guess so,” I said. “I certainly didn’t learn it from my mom.”
“Tell me about her,” Spencer said. “You said she’s not like she used to be.”
“You don’t want to know,” I said.
“That bad?” he asked.
I hummed, not trusting myself to open my mouth and speak. My childhood had been miserable all around. Much of it could have been avoided had I been cared for by a parent.
“Well, Malcom should be all set,” Star announced.
“You’re sure?” Malcom asked.
“Pretty sure,” she said.
“Guess we’ll find out when I try to walk in the front door,” Malcom said.
“I’m sure Star has you covered. Besides, she’ll be with you and I have a feeling she can handle herself and take care of you,” I said.
“That’s the truth,” Star said.
The drive felt less tense for a while as conversation turned in other directions. Star shared about her training as a witch, and Spencer shared about what vampires were really like.
Both conversations were very eye opening. I’d been so closed off from the rest of the supernatural world, but it turned out it might not be as scary as I feared. Of course there were bad vampires and witches, but there were also bad shifters. Hell, humans did terrible things to each other even without magic.
All the tension returned the second Spencer turned the car into a residential area. Streetlights lined the dark road and massive houses with sprawling yards appeared every so often. We were going up in elevation, the road winding in a spiral. The farther we went along the road, the more sparse the homes were.
“We’re close,” Star said. “I can feel it.”
“You can feel the king?” Malcom asked.
“I feel shifters,” she said. “First it was only humans. Now, I can sense the wolves.”
“It’s the house on the top,” Spencer said. “It used to be nothing around here. Lots of open space. Great for shifting and running. I think it’s why my dad wasn’t fond of this place. It was a little too built up and populated for his taste.”
“How does he run with all these houses?” They did have much larger yards than anything I’d seen in Wolf Creek, but it wasn’t enough to hide wolves running. Plus, there were so few trees. It looked like a terrible area to run.
“Was it all cleared out?” Malcom asked. “Where are the trees?”
“It’s a little unnatural feeling,” I added.
“It’s the humans you’re sensing,” Star said. “They’re the absence of magic. It makes things feel like a void. It’s uncomfortable for many of us. It’s why most supernaturals live in cities populated with many of our kind or in the hidden enclaves like where you grew up.”
“That’s it, up ahead.” Spencer pulled the car over.
I looked at the house on the top of the hill. It stretched across enough space to be a dozen houses. A large semicircle driveway lined in white lights led up to a front entry. A row of cars snaked its way up, dropping passengers at the front doors before the cars drove away.
In the center of the driveway was an island of grass, complete with an ostentatious fountain. Everything about the home cried excess. It was the opposite of most of the shifters I’d grown up around. Sure, Ace’s house was large and he had nice things, but it was a shack compared to this monstrosity.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now, you and I hand over the car. We’re walking the rest of the way.” Spencer opened his door and stepped out.
I removed my seat belt and exited the car. Malcom and Star got out of the back and closed the doors behind them.
